Author: Fintech News Malaysia

The Singapore Fintech Festival (SFF) will return in November with a focus on five forces reshaping global finance. The event will run from 18 to 20 November 2026, bringing together policymakers, regulators, financial institutions, technology companies, investors and entrepreneurs. Organised by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN), in collaboration with the Association of Banks in Singapore, the festival will focus on technology, geoeconomics, capital, talent and policy. Sopnendu Mohanty, Group Chief Executive Officer, GFTN said, “This  year’s festival is built with a simple conviction: Rewiring, handled well, is not just a risk. …

Revolut has launched a research division to develop AI for fraud detection, credit risk and product recommendations. Revolut Research sits within the company’s AI department and will oversee work on machine learning models for financial services. It also plans to collaborate with academic and technology institutions. The unit is developing PRAGMA, a family of foundation models built using NVIDIA technology. The models provide a shared intelligence layer for functions including risk assessment and platform operations. According to an NVIDIA case study, PRAGMA was trained on about 26 million user records from 111 countries. The dataset covered between 24 billion and…

DBS has introduced a new initiative to help Singapore SMEs manage working capital, adopt AI and handle overseas payments. The DBS for SMEs initiative combines advisory services, capability-building and financing support. New clients will have access to onboarding workshops and one-on-one advisory sessions. Sector-focused sessions will cover healthcare, building and construction, industrials, chemicals and materials. DBS will also offer programmes for second-generation business owners on leadership succession, digital transformation and peer networking. SMEs can also tap existing DBS BusinessClass initiatives such as Spark Gen AI and ESG Ready. Sharon Tan, Head of SME Banking at DBS Singapore, said, “‘DBS for…

Western Union has tapped Fireblocks to support USDPT as the company prepares to settle with agents using its first stablecoin this year. USDPT is Western Union’s U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin. Fireblocks will provide the wallet, settlement and financial operations infrastructure, with support from Dynamic’s embedded wallet technology and TRES’ financial platform. Dynamic and TRES were both recently acquired by Fireblocks. Western Union plans to roll out USDPT operations on Fireblocks first in the Philippines and Bolivia, before expanding across its global network through 2026. The company said USDPT will allow customers in selected markets to hold value in U.S. dollars, convert…

Malaysia and India will introduce two-stage QR interoperability under a new agreement between Payments Network Malaysia (PayNet) and NPCI International Payments Limited. The partnership links Malaysia’s DuitNow QR system with India’s Unified Payments Interface. The initiative builds on earlier payment connectivity discussions between the two countries during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Malaysia. In the first phase, Indian travellers will be required to use UPI-enabled applications to pay at participating DuitNow QR merchants across Malaysia. The DuitNow QR network covers more than 2.9 million merchant touchpoints nationwide, including retail outlets, restaurants and tourist locations. The second phase will…

Embedded finance, artificial intelligence (AI), and stablecoins are emerging as key drivers of Southeast Asia’s next digital growth wave, shaping opportunities across agentic commerce, instant cross-border payments, and hyper-personalization, according to a new study by HSBC, Google Cloud, and Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence (PCMI). The survey, conducted between December 2024 and May 2025, polled more than 2,400 respondents across six of Southeast Asia’s biggest countries to identify the major trends transforming how businesses, entrepreneurs, and consumers create and exchange value across the region. Embedded finance becomes mainstream The research highlights several trends shaping the future of the region’s digital…

Singapore and Thailand have reportedly launched investigations into a Cambodian real estate conglomerate following fraud and money laundering allegations against its chairman, Chen Zhi, with charges prompting international asset seizures and sanctions, according to Bloomberg. Singapore police confirmed over the weekend that they are “looking into the case” involving Prince Holding Group and are “in contact with authorities in other countries.” The move follows sanctions by the U.S. and U.K. against Chen, whom authorities allege orchestrated what they describe as a “sprawling cyber-fraud empire” that authorities claim exploited forced labour and allegedly generated illicit profits. In Thailand, officials are coordinating…

Global Finance has named DBS the World’s Best AI Bank for 2025 in its inaugural AI in Finance Awards, recognising the bank’s progress in applying artificial intelligence across its operations. DBS also received two additional honours, Best Corporate/Institutional AI Bank and Best Enhanced Customer Experience in the consumer AI banks global sub-category. Since beginning its AI journey in 2014, DBS has made significant investments in its technology platforms, processes, and workforce to scale AI across the organisation. These efforts aim to enhance customer experience and employee productivity through wider use of AI-driven tools. The bank uses AI to generate hyper-personalised…

We speak to Malaysia’s digital banking applicants to get a sense of their aspirations and how it will shape BFSI in Malaysia 11:00am – 12:00pm Malaysia’s New Wave of Digital Banks Speakers: Salim Dhanani, CEO & Co-Founder, BigPay Naysan Munusamy, Co-Founder MoneyMatch Hudhaifa Ahmad, Co-Founder and Executive Director, MyAngkasa Wu Shi Wei, CTO APAC, Huawei Cloud Moderated by: Vincent Fong, Chief Editor, Fintech News Malaysia 12:00pm – 12:30pm Towards Digital Malaysia; Building a Future Proof Banking Industry Speaker: Muhammad Ghaddafi, Vertical Director, Banking and Finance Sales, TM ONE

Week 1 of the Huawei X Fintech News Malaysia will feature a C-level panel looking at the biggest trends impacting BFSI followed by an expert presentation. Speaker: Shankar Kanabiran, Malaysia Financial Services Consulting Leader; Partner, EY

Week 1 of the Huawei X Fintech News Malaysia will feature a C-level panel looking at the biggest trends impacting BFSI followed by an expert presentation. Speakers: Domenic Fuda, Group MD and CEO, Hong Leong Bank Mohd Muazzam Mohamed, CEO, Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad Ignatius Ong, CEO, TNG Digital Anson Shen, Chief Strategy Officer, Huawei Cloud APAC

For decades banks have been at the centre of the cross-border payments market and have gone largely unchallenged. In recent years, more and more players are emerging in this space, eyeing a piece of the US$ 156 trillion pie. While these players are mostly focused on consumer markets and low-value B2B markets, things are slowly shifting as they attempt to move up the value chain. How can banks stay competitive in this new environment? Emerging technology and standards in the cross border payments space Analysing the competitive landscape Roadmap for the future Panelists: Atul Bhuchar, Group Payments Head, Global Transaction…

SMEs represent 39% of GDP and employ nearly 50% of Malaysia’s workforce, yet they remain one of the most underserved segments. Learn how digital technologies are empowering digital financial service players to tap into this market and enabling them to deliver a superior experience Examining the unique needs of SMEs Bridging the financing gap Developing next-gen digital solutions for SMEs Confirmed Speakers Jeffrey Ng Eow Oo, Managing Director, Group Community Banking, RHB Khairil Abdullah, Chief Executive Officer, Axiata Digital KJ Balan, Head, SME Banking – Commercial Banking Malaysia, CIMB Swapnil Deshmukh, Director of Business Development at Tagit

Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) is arguably one of the hottest trends to arrive in the South East Asian market and it’s easy to see the appeal. For merchants, it is an easy way to increase conversion and for consumers, it grants them the instant gratification of being able to purchase something immediately by making several interest-free installments. However, detractors have come out en masse to describe BNPL as a worrying trend that promotes unhealthy consumerism. The rising popularity has also caught the attention of regulators as well, with MAS issuing a public statement that they will be “reviewing the…

At the heart of every bank that delights its customers is a culture of innovation. Having a culture of innovation is more than just fancy fintech labs or hiring a chief innovation officer and calling it a day. Tune in to our webinar and learn how banking leaders in Malaysia have attempted to create a cultural shift within their own organisations. Getting buy-in from the top Shaping the right environment and attracting the right talent Creating innovation that matters to customers Speakers Shailesh Grover, Chief Digital and Innovation Officer, Hong Leong Bank Raja Teh Maimunah, Managing Director, Wholesale Banking, AmBank…

Brought to you by: UNCDF & i3 Programme In the backdrop of Covid-19, how financially safe is it to be a worker in the gig economy? Are gig workers financially healthy? What financial behaviors do they demonstrate and what sorts of financial products and services do they use? How has Covid-19 impacted them and how did they cope? Why is it important for the financial sector to serve gig workers and what’s the business case in doing so? In this session, we answer these questions with UNCDF’s research studies in Malaysia(with platforms small and large and discuss what stakeholders could…

In June 2020, Axiata Digital announced that it secured a US $70 million strategic investment from Great Eastern, sealing the biggest fintech investment in the Malaysian market. With this investment, its subsidiary Boost Holdings Sdn Bhd will be valued at US$ 320 million, and the Axiata Group revealed their ambitions to build Malaysia’s first unicorn. Join us for Episode 3 of our Fintech Fireside Chat as we sit down for a live session with Khairil Abdullah, CEO, Axiata Digital to share what the future holds for the digital services provider in a hypercompetitive landscape. Join us for Episode 3 of…

The insurance sector is considered by most a sleeping giant in the digital world. With COVID-19 driving up digital adoption, how has it forced insurers to rethink digital? We’re joined by AXA AFFIN Life Insurance CEO, Rohit Nambiar to discuss this issue.

Bank Negara Malaysia’s announced that it will be issuing 5 virtual banking license by 2020. How will these virtual banks shake things up and change the way we bank? We are joined by Khairil Abdullah, CEO, Axiata Digital Navin, Co-Founder, BigPay Anand Subbaraman, General Manager, Retail Banking, Finastra Marcus Von Engel, Partner, Malaysia, Financial Services Consulting Leader, PwC